French captain Kylian Mbappé reached another historic milestone at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, becoming the highest goalscorer in World Cup history with 22 goals.
Although France suffered a 6-4 defeat to England in the third-place playoff, Mbappé scored twice to revive his team’s hopes and surpassed Lionel Messi’s record.
Mbappé netted in the 48th minute to equal Messi’s tally of 21 World Cup goals, before scoring again in the 66th minute to take his total to 22, making him the all-time leading scorer in World Cup history.
The French star also took his tournament tally to 10 goals, moving to the top of the Golden Boot race.
OnAttention now turns to the final, where Argentina’s Lionel Messi will face Spain in what could be his final World Cup match, as he attempts to reclaim the Golden Boot from Mbappé.
Meanwhile, England produced a superb performance to defeat France 6-4 and secure third place at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.For England, Bukayo Saka scored a hat-trick, while Jude Bellingham also found the net to take his tournament tally to seven goals.
England Beat France 6-4 to in FIFA World Cup 2026
England secured third place at the FIFA World Cup 2026 after defeating France 6-4 in a thrilling third-place playoff.
Playing in Miami, England took the field with seven changes to the lineup, including captain Harry Kane. The Three Lions made an aggressive start, with Declan Rice opening the scoring in the third minute.
France responded with several attacks after falling behind, but England’s goalkeeper produced a series of outstanding saves to deny the French forwards.
England avoided repeating the mistakes they made in the semifinal and continued attacking instead of sitting back after taking the lead. Their approach paid off with three more first-half goals. Conor scored in the 18th minute, while Bukayo Saka found the net in the 37th minute and again in first-half stoppage time to give England a commanding 4-0 lead.
France looked like a different side after the break. Kylian Mbappé pulled one back before Bradley Barcola scored. Mbappé then added his second goal of the match to make it 4-3.
Saka completed his hat-trick by converting a penalty to restore England’s two-goal cushion, while Ousmane Dembélé scored France’s fourth goal.
Jude Bellingham sealed England’s victory with a goal in the closing moments, as the Three Lions claimed a 6-4 win.
The match became one of the highest-scoring third-place playoffs in World Cup history, while France conceded six goals in a World Cup match for the first time.
With the historic victory, England secured third place at a World Cup for the first time since winning the tournament in 1966 and also recorded their best-ever World Cup performance on foreign soil.
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